Choosing the right IT Company

Choosing an IT provider can be challenging. How do you find a company you can really trust? Anyone can make claims about their reputation and expertise and even the worst providers can dredge up a positive testimonial or two for marketing purposes. But how do you ensure you are contracting with a truly reliable partner?

There is no single foolproof indicator, but if you do your homework and ask the right questions, you can find an IT provider that is right for your business. What are the criteria you should consider? Here are a few.

One, do they ask the right questions and listen to your answers? There is nothing worse than a provider that just wants to sell you their flavor-of-the-month solution. A good provider will assess your needs and create a solution that addresses your unique business requirements. A solid IT background and experience has to be a given but does your IT provider go beyond that to understand your business, its goals and its current and future needs? Only then can they recommend a truly fitting solution.

Two, what is the breadth and depth of their team? If the team is too small, you will frequently have to wait because engineers will be busy with other clients. Also, no single engineer can know everything about every technology. In today’s world, IT engineers need to have some areas of specialty in addition to their general knowledge. By partnering with an IT firm like CIO, your business gets the benefit of working with an expansive and knowledgeable team while still getting one on one, individual attention.

Three, do they have happy customers that you can talk to who are similar to you in some meaningful way, such as size of company, industry or mix of technology in use? If they have made customers like you happy, and you can actually talk to them, there is a good chance they can satisfy your needs. In a small town community, reputation is everything and CIO is proud that the majority of new business comes from client referrals.

Four, how good and mature are the processes and systems they have in place for providing ongoing assistance and technical support? For example, most IT companies today will provide some support via remotely accessing your computers or servers. However, the tools are only as good as the resources using them and having a strong engineering team is crucial in delivering support to clients. CIO has developed a world-class help desk with technically proficient, experienced and helpful agents who have become experts in managing and maintaining IT networks. Backed by an advanced senior engineering team, CIO has the resources needed to resolve any issue. Solid processes mean better repeatability and consistency in the delivery of support and, frequently, better value as well. An efficiently run provider can deliver more for less.

These are some of the criteria that can help you select the right IT partner.Do your homework and make sure you are making the right choice for your company.Give us a call now at805-692-6700and see how we stack up.